Kwara APC Senate Aspirants Break Ranks to Back New Zoning Formula; Move to Stabilize 2027 Tickets Despite Senator Oloriegbe’s ‘No-Zoning’ Bombshell

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State has taken a bold step toward “de-risking” its internal politics as Senate aspirants from across the three senatorial districts officially backed a formal zoning formula for the 2027 race. In a meeting that lasted several hours at the party’s Ilorin headquarters today Wednesday, May 13, 2026, the hopefuls declared that a “technical-rescue” of the party’s stability was more important than an all-out primary war.

The agreement comes at a time of heightened tension within the “Jagaban” machinery in Kwara. With Kwara North elders and youths making a “digital-age” push for the 2027 governorship, the party leadership has been searching for a way to satisfy the competing interests of the Central and South districts. By locking in a “zoning portal” for the Senate seats, the party hopes to create a balanced “security shield” where every region feels a sense of belonging in the next administration.

However, the path to consensus remains rocky. The aspirants’ endorsement directly contradicts a viral interview given just yesterday by former Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe, who insisted that “competence, not zoning,” should be the only metric. Oloriegbe’s “no-zoning” stance has created a significant “technical hurdle” for the state chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, who is desperately trying to prevent a repeat of the internal strife that plagued the party’s House of Assembly nominations earlier this week.

“We have seen the benefits of rotation in the past,” one Kwara South aspirant noted shortly after the meeting. “If we don’t agree on a formula now, we are essentially building our 2027 campaign on sand. This zoning agreement is a ‘Value-Addition’ to our collective strength.”

As the 2027 transition cycle gathers momentum, the Kwara APC is betting that this “Senate Pact” will act as a roadmap for the more contentious governorship race. With the 158 aspirants for state seats already facing their own screening panels, the message from the Ilorin secretariat is clear: in the “digital-age” of Kwara politics, the party prefers the “order of the table” to the “chaos of the trenches.”